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August 7, 2009

President Obama nominates his first(?) non-judge to the circuit courts

Thanks to this post at How Appealing, I see that President Obama has made two more nominations to the federal circuit courts. This official press release provides the basic details:

President Obama today announced that he has nominated Jane Stranch for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit and Judge Thomas Vanaskie for a seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Stranch is currently a partner at Nashville law firm Branstetter, Stranch and Jennings. Judge Vanaskie currently sits on the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

As the title of this post indicates, I am pretty sure (but not entirely certain) that the nomination of Jane Stranch to the Sixth Circuit makes her the first of (seven?) circuit nominees who is not already a confirmed federal district court judge.

Comments

Judging is a separate profession, and no lawyer qualifies for it after their 1L criminal cult indoctrination. The lawyer should be excluded from all benches by constitutional amendment.

There should be separate judge schools. The student should have a judicial temperament, experience making decisions and taking their consequences in other fields, and common sense. They should learn judging for two years. The big theme of judge school should be to obey the law, not make it. In the third year, the student should judge cases under supervision of an experienced judge.

After that education, take a written test, and review of the judging experience of the third year for a judge license. No one should be eligible for election nor for appointment without a judge license.

End all judge immunities, and parties injured by judge carelessness should be able to sue for judge malpractice. A certificate of merit signed by a judging expert should be required prior to the filing of a claim against a judge. Filing a claim to harass or retaliate should be an intentional tort. Pro se litigants should post bond to assure against that. Lawyers pay exemplary damages for an intentional tort if their claim has an improper motive and no expert support.

My Hair Cuttery person took courses for two years, took a long written test, and was watched by a state licensing official cut the hair of three types of people. Judging is at least as hard as a haircut and deserves at least as much training and competence.